‘Disability confidence’ is a term often used yet rarely defined. We talk about being disability confident employers, in our recruitment processes, as service providers and in technology however we rarely stop and think about what this means in practice. However, unless it is clear what it means to be ‘disability confident’, organisations can’t be expected to ‘be’ it.

In designing the MyPlus Student Recruitment Toolkit the aim was not only to clearly define what it means to be disability confident in student recruitment but also to set out what employers practically need to do. It is all very well talking about becoming disability confident however in reality it needs to be tangible and will lead to success. Our Toolkit sets out exactly what is meant by disability confident in Student Recruitment - in 8 clear areas. In addition, it sets out exactly what it is that employers need to do, and achieve, to say that they are a disability confident employer when it comes to recruiting students who have a disability. Much of the Toolkit is also relevant for lateral hire recruitment.

In designing the Toolkit the first step was to define disability confident and this was defined as follows:

Our definition recognises that firms need to have both the process and the mindset if they are to be successful. Often firms want to make progress in this area but do not have the processes in place to support making it happen; or they have the processes but not the culture to drive the agenda forward. It is imperative to ensure that you have both if you are to be successful in achieving tangible, measureable results.

Having defined Disability Confidence the Toolkit lays out the 8 areas that employers must consider. The 8 areas follow the natural recruitment journey starting with strategy before moving on to areas such as attraction, screening and adjustments and finally ending with DC for recruiters and hiring managers. For each section, there is a definition of what disability confident looks like, a checklist of areas to consider and a Top Tip.